A good-looking purifier for 200RMB?

When I started Smart Air in 2013, I wanted to make purifiers cheaper. At that time, the cheapest I could find was over 4,000 RMB, and I started shipping peoplethe humble DIY for 228RMB. But recently I’ve started seeing cheaper purifiers out there, like this Diqu purifier that costs 198RMB.

First Impression

I ordered the Diqu purifier. Its supposed original price is 465 RMB (real price 198 RMB). When the purifier arrived, everyone in the Smart Air office knew which we preferred aesthetically.

The Test

Smart Air’s engineer intern Joseph ran clean air delivery rate (CADR) tests on both purifiers to measure their effectiveness. In these tests, we burn a cigarette in a closed room, run the purifier for 20 minutes, and use aDylos particle counterto track the reduction in particles 0.5 microns and above (CADR complete rundown).

The results weren’t pretty. The CADR for the Diqu purifier was about 30% of the DIY1.1. But hey, perhaps we don’t need such a high CADR? After all, if the purifier can clean the air, it should be good enough.

Based on theAHAM recommendations(which are on the conservative side), the Diqu purifier works for up to 4.3m2room, versus 13.5m2for the DIY 1.1.

How big of a room can it clean?

A 13.5m2room is about the size of an average Chinese apartment bedroom. It can comfortably fit a king-sized bed along with a table and drawer. Meanwhile, a 4.3m2room can fit the bed and nothing else.

Bottom Line

#1 The 200RMB Diqu is less than 1/3rd as effective as the DIY 1.1

The 200RMB Diqu purifier is unable to effectively clean a reasonable sized room on its own. To make matters worse, the sellers actually claim that it’s suitable for a 15m2-30m2sized rooms!

#2 Purifiers and Tinder are separate

Like finding a partner, purifiers’ “inner beauty” is much more important than looks. Always check the data before choosing a purifier.

Get the latest clean air tips!

Thomas is an Associate Professor of Behavior Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the founder of Smart Air, a social enterprise to help people in China breathe clean air without shelling out thousands of dollars for expensive purifiers.

About Smart Air

Smart Air is a social enterprise based in China, India, Mongolia and the Philippines that creates simple, no-nonsense air purifiers and provides free education to combat the impacts of air pollution.
More about who the heck we are.